Frontline : A Crime of Insanity (2002)

Genres - News [TV]  |   Sub-Genres - Law & Crime, Psychology, Social Issues  |   Run Time - 60 min.  |   Countries - United States  |  
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Synopsis by Andrea LeVasseur

Frontline investigates the problems that occur between the legal system and the psychiatric community in the documentary A Crime of Insanity. The program focuses on the controversial case of SUNY psychology student Ralph Tortorici. In December of 1994, he was arrested for taking a classroom hostage using a knife and a rifle. Although Tortorici was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, he couldn't find a psychiatrist willing to testify. Includes interviews with family members as well as presiding judge Larry Rosen, defense attorney Peter Lynch, and prosecutor Cheryl Coleman. Frontline: A Crime of Insanity first aired on PBS in October of 2002.

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Keywords

court-system, hostage, mental-illness, schizophrenia